A/N: The battle will come next chapter. I got really stuck in this chapter and it's 11:33 PM on a school night and I'm tired, so please bear with me. Kyonae's secret is revealed in this one, though, so it should still be good…Enjoy!!!
Chapter Twenty One: Kyonae's Secret
Suddenly things were not so dark anymore. Actually, things were rather bright by violent lightning that streaked across the black skies. The mass of huddled people parted, looking aweingly at their strange surroundings.
"Where…are we?" Selphie cooed softly, still grasping onto the nervewrecked Zell Dincht. "Everything's so…quiet."
"Are anyone else's ears popping? Mine are," Quistis stated, rubbing her ears gingerly.
"Is everyone okay?" Irvine asked. "Holy Hyne…"
"No, everyone's not okay!" Rinoa whimpered. They turned to see her kneeling on the ground, still holding Squall's limp figure in her arms. "I can hear him breathing…but he won't get up!"
Naomi paid no attention to the startled cries of her companions. She stood at the edge of wherever they were, staring downward resignedly at whatever was there.
"Why…what is it, Naomi? Is something wrong?" Eve questioned concernedly.
"Besides the obvious, we mean," added Ember.
The thunder mage sighed, lowering her head sadly so her neat black hair fell over her paler than usual face. Turning away from whatever she was staring at, she gestured half heartedly toward it. Eagerly the entire group walked over to see what the dignified mage had become so depressed over.
Ellone screamed, nearly falling backwards in a faint. They were upon the pedestal-like cliff that stood in the midst of a very angry Lake Drilta—one thousand feet up. The heights made even the hard stomached Quistis quelch with dizziness and fear.
"Oh, my goodness!" cried Eve in despair. "Whatever does this mean?"
Naomi's voice spoke in a grave tone behind them. "We are atop the Dragon's Pinnacle. She has transported us all here. There is no other way down except for magical transport from the one who summoned us here. There is nothing to do now except wait…for her to arrive."
"To hell with that!" Zell blurted angrily, stretching out his knuckle-gloved palms. "I'll just blast a hole through this thing to the ground! Ifrit, I summon you!"
"Yeah! Quezacoatl, I summon you!" Selphie cried in relief, doing the same thing.
"Siren!"
"Bahamut!"
"Eden!"
"No, no, no! Stop! Do you not realize where we are? This is sacred Dratilian ground! The Four Dragons that guard this city's very gate have touched this soil with their claws. No mortal has ever been allowed atop this dragon's perch without consent from the godesses! Now that we have been summoned, there is no escape from this place until Maika's deed is done! Not even the Guardian Forces can help us against her!"
Zell quivered under the steady, wrathful tone of the wise thunder mage. Though her voice was full of anger, her bright yellow eyes were full of uncharacteristic fear.
Suddenly, a quiet voice made itself known behind them. They turned to see a thin, frail figure wavering in the wind, covered by a pale blue cloak. She looked as if she could barely find the strength to stand. Two pupiless pools of bluegray color stared as if dead from her gaunt, pale face, stirring slightly in confusion.
"What…what are you doing here?" she said softly, seeming she could faint dead at any moment. "Why are you here…?"
"Oh, my god," Irvine breathed disbelievingly.
"Kyonae, listen! We're here to help you." Laguna pleaded, taking a step forward.
"Help…? No one can save me now. I am condemned, Father. And besides…I…am not wanted…or needed among you." She cast a glance towards Seifer, not with anger or blame but as if confirming a fact. Seifer looked desperately away.
"Where…is…Squall?"
Rinoa still sat on the soil, attempting to wake the unconscious gunblader. Kyonae studied her brother's figure closely, as if he were a photo she was trying to remember. She gave them all that look.
"I warned you all to run from this place while you could, but you…didn't listen. Now…you have to watch."
Suddenly her fragile body jerked once, as if stricken by the lightning that flashed so brightly and constantly overhead. She remained standing, but her head hung limp from her shoulders like she had fallen asleep.
"Kyonae…?!"
The dark figure of Maika appeared before them, amber eyes glinting dangerously. A rising gesture of her cloaked hand and another figure appeared alongside her, wrapped in black cloth and face blocked from view. The figure's shape was ugly, humped, and misshapen.
"Ah, so we meet again," Maika claimed to Seifer, as if this were a casual outing on which they just happened to bump into one another. "And this time you have friends with you. Splendid. I love an audience…"
"Whad'ya do to Kyonae, you hag?!" Irvine shouted, taking a step forward. Maika's eyes glowed slightly. His face of confidence and anger immediately turned to a look of pain as he cried out, holding his head and backing away.
"Do not trifle with me, cowboy. Or any of you, for that matter. I do not come to fight you. There will be time for that later. But to answer your question…I have put her under a very deep spell that has her under my complete control whenever I will it. Clever, yes? The tears will remain there until I release her entire from my grasp…which I will not do until I am through with her."
"Then what will happen?" Zell murmured.
"Why…I don't know. Let's find out, hmm?"
She drew her attention to the hypnotized Kyonae, beginning to chant softly.
Leviso magna morpheum, de un lu morphi inta
Leviso magna morpheum, de un lu hidum inta
Lau ka quin slumbre distan tu kai
Leviso,ka , kinte nu taka u mai…!
"What is she saying, Naomi?" Quistis asked.
Naomi looked on at the chanting sorceress in silent terror, barely able to open her lips to answer. "She's chanting a resurrection spell…she's saying…"
Arise, great sleeper, the one who dreams within
Arise, great sleeper, the one who hides within
Your soul has slumbered far too long
Arise, soul, grace us with your song…
"WHAT…?" Fujin drifted off in confusion.
The wind was blowing hard and cold around them, a cold that chilled not their skin but their very souls. The thunder rumbled warningly. Naomi replied in the same somber tone, "It is ancient Dratilian. A spell for resurrection. She's awakening her daughter Sanya from the dead…"
"But that isn't Sanya, Naomi. That's Kyonae…" Selphie pointed out, then stopped herself with a gasp when she suddenly realized…
Sanya was in Kyonae.
Seifer stared onward at the ritual, forcing himself to watch what was taking place. His heart was tearing itself in half with rage, screaming at him to do something. But everytime he attempted to step forward, his conscience buzzed silently in his ears, almost mockingly…
Leave her. She wants to face this alone. Let her be.
The black-cloaked figure raised an arm; the hand was bony, ashen and tattered with decaying flesh, as if it were the very hand of death. A black apparition conjured from the figure's fingertips, forming the shape of a clawed hand. A gnarled, twisted, horrifying three clawed hand that wrapped its disgusting black form around Kyonae, constricting around her throat and chest as Maika continued to chant. It lifted Kyonae several feet from the ground, clutching at her still form so tightly that somehow it's cloudlike form cut through the pale blue cloak, the sleeves of her shirt and the skin under it, as if trying to get at something that laid within. Kyonae hung limply from its grip, not a mumble of protest crossing her frozen blue lips.
Then, the claw released the sorceress, though she still remained in the air. It held within its palm a dark, blood red light that shone dully through its gnarled fingers.
All of them suddenly held their heads in pain, screaming with inexplicable agony at the pain that coursed through them with the same pulsing beat that the light had. "ARRRRGHH! WHAT IS HAPPENING…?!" Laguna screamed.
Slowly the apparition returned to the twisted figure, where it quickly plunged itself and the light back into the death hand that had bore it. The thing in the cloak was suddenly bathed in the red light, as it swarmed over it and blocked the figure from view, spinning around it like a red tornado… Kyonae spun rapidly in the air as well, her long legs and fragile arms bound tightly to her as if by some invisible rope…
"Fithos…lusec…wecos…vinosec…Leviso, ka…Leviso, ka…LEVISO, KA!" Maika ended the chant in a shout, bringing down her hands abruptly.
Everything came to a halt. Even the wind lost its luster at Maika's words. Kyonae stopped spinning, and spread-eagled before falling to the dry ground with a hard thud, writhing.
Squall laid on the ground encircled in Rinoa's arms, eyes wide open in shock. He had seen the whole ritual, had felt the searing pain run through him when the the red light had been drawn from Kyonae and into the twisted figure's body.
"Squall, you're okay!" Rinoa gasped, seeing he was awake.
He stared at her, scared. "Rinoa…what was that thing?"
"I—I don't know, Squall."
Seifer watched as Kyonae writhed in the dirt, taking the trait of a wounded, suffering animal. She struggled to get up, but all she could manage was to sit on her knees, wrapping her arms around herself with her head resting on her lap, as if feeling the loss of the red light. Or was it fear?
"Get up, Kyonae," a woman's voice ordered from underneath the hood of the black cloak.
This turned their attention back to the twisted figure. But the mysterious person was no longer short and misshapen, but tall and straight. Two youthful looking, knuckle gloved hands hung out of the sleeves.
Kyonae did not answer, did not react.
"Get up, Kyonae." The command came again, but sharper and impatient. "At least look up at me if you have the gall."
Kyonae slowly rose her head to face the cloaked woman, squinting with hazy, confused eyes into the hood. The woman threw back her cloak, letting it fall to the ground in a crumpled black heap.
"Thundaga's talons…" Naomi gasped.
"What the HELL!" Zell cried.
Seifer could only stare.
Kyonae gave a short, fearful cry at the woman who stood before her, and for good reason.
"Sanya…"
The resurrected daughter rose her head to the sky and laughed an uproarious laugh in spite of the ice sorceress' fear. She looked exactly like Kyonae, a perfect mirror image. But she was different. Her hair was jet black, matching the color of her smirking lips. Her eyes were shocking yellow, but her eyelids were dark. Her shirt was black, her pants were black, the shin length boots she wore were black. Even the identical scar she bore on her forehead was as if it were a smear of tar across her face.
"What's the matter, Kyonae? Can't get up? Here, let me help you…"
Sanya rose her hand, and Kyonae abruptly rose with it. She forced herself to stand.
Maika rushed near, arm wide open to embrace Sanya. "My child…my little girl…" Joy and hoped gleamed in the sorceress' amber eyes, with a love no one could comprehend.
But Sanya glared at her with sly distaste. "Where's the fire, Mother?" Stretching out her palm, she shouted, "FIRA!"
A sphere of red-yellow flame burst from her hand, hurtling into thunder sorceress and knocking her backward to the ground, unconcsious.
Kyonae gasped, her head turning to the fallen woman in shock, surprised that Sanya would do that to Maika. A look of sudden realization crossed her face as she slowly faced her again. "…You're not Sanya…"
"Well, of course I'm not," she said casually. "At least, not the one she knows. But at least I know who I am. Who are you?"
"I…I'm…"
"Oh, let's talk about that later, hmm? Your…ahem…'friends'…seem rather confused. Let us fill them in on our little secret, shall we?"
"No…don't…!" Kyonae cried softly, but Sanya had already pushed past her.
"I suppose Kyonae's been hiding her secrets pretty well, hasn't she?" she asked all of them cheerily, a dripping tone of cruelty in her satin voice. " She's a sorceress, yes, all of you know that by now. Of course, they do seem to be just popping up everywhere, am I right Rinoa?"
Rinoa bit her lip nervously at the remark, remembering her own sorceress powers.
"And thanks to you, Leonhart, sneaking around and looking in Katarina's journal, you also know…"
"Katarina is Kyonae from the past," Squall cut in placidly. "Darion is Seifer's predecessor, Queen Lunora was my mother Raine and Ellone and I are her siblings. I don't know what the fuck you are, but you better tell us quick or—"
"Or what, SeeD? You'll kill me? Hahahahahaha," she laughed at his stupidity. "Nonetheless, I couldn't have put it in better words. All of which you said is true. But it is not enough to know this alone. You must hear the story first. Wouldn't you like to tell it, Kyonae? You always tell such wonderful stories…" She said this in a sickly sweet tone.
Kyonae shook her head negatively, backing away with a scared, pleading look. "No! Please don't make me tell them…!" she wailed.
"Tell them, I command you!"
Sanya rose her hand, and Kyonae cried in pain. The gemlike tears imbedded in her cheeks glowed brightly for only a second, but it obviously caused her so much pain that she relented.
"All right…please…" she sank down onto her knees.
A tear slipped down Seifer's cheek to see her. But she had told him not to interfere.
Kyonae began the 'story', burning in visible shame but afraid of suffering the torture again. " Dratilia was the most powerful kingdom in all the lands of all the continents. Only Osiria came close to matching its power. The only thing that kept Osiria from exceeding to true greatness was the Silver Falcon Pendant, owned by Princess Katarina Falcona of the Dratilian Royal Family. It had the power to summon four dragons of the four elements of the ancient magic: thunder, flower, fire, and ice. With this power Katarina could do anything. She could defend the kingdom from enemies, destroy other kingdoms, even take over the entire planet. She could even drink a drop of each dragon's blood and become immortal like them."
"But did she do any of this?" Sanya interrogated fiercely, circling around her like a stalking leopard.
"No. She feared the gift would become a curse and make her foolish and powerhungry. She never used it. She wore it on her neck always, for no matter what its power it was a gift from her mother Lunora."
"But someone did want the power, didn't they?"
"Yes. King Solarus of Osiria wanted the pendant more than anything in his life. But Katarina wouldn't give it to him because she knew he would use it for his own selfish purposes. Solarus was a dumb, drunk, panicky man who didn't understand the ways of—"
"Yes,yes,yes, we know," Sanya said impatiently. "Get to the good part. You know the one I'm talking about."
Kyonae nodded sadly. "…King Solarus, on the advice of his vizier, sent his own son in the dress of a common knight to Dratilia to charm the princess and steal the pendant."
"And what was his name?" Sanya asked giddily, leaning backward towards Kyonae with a hand cupped around her ear.
"Darion…Darion Almasy of the Osirian Royal Family…" she said painfully.
Seifer gasped, his jaw hanging open in shock. "Kyonae…"
"Ah ah ah, let her finish," she taunted him. "Go ahead, Kyonae."
"…He went on his father's order, with the best intentions of bringing back the pendant even if he had to cut off the Princess' neck. But…something happened…"
"What, exactly?"
"Darion fell in love with Katarina the first moment he laid eyes upon her. And she him…very much."
"Ah, how sweet…go on."
"Darion would do anything now to keep his father away from the pendant. Every night they would meet in the secret archive at the end of the Corridor of Ice. Katarina had already been studying there secretly to be an ice mage. They were making a false pendant to fool his father. Darion was confident that his father would never dare to use it, too scared of the magic within. It was just a shiny piece of jewelry he wanted to own. And Solarus, for a while, was fooled. Darion left Katarina with a vow to return to her no matter what."
"But she never saw him again, did she Kyonae?"
She gulped, her voice cracking. " No. Someone informed the king that the pendant was false, and claimed that Darion had the real one in hopes of overthrowing him and taking the throne. The person convinced him that Darion should be executed right away. This person had him under their thumb, under their complete control. So Solarus gave this person permission to kill him, which that person did mercilessly, and publicly. A day after, this person bestowed upon Katarina Darion's head and a flask of his blood as a 'sympathy' gift." As she spoke, Kyonae's tone became more and more sour against Sanya, who merely smiled.
"Who was this person you speak of, Kyonae? We're all dying to know."
Kyonae glared at her darkly. "Why, none other but his own sister…you. Princess Sanya Almasy of the Osirian Family, no less."
Even Naomi had a look of shock on her face. Seifer stared disbelievingly at the Kyonae duplicate. No…this could not be…
"Yes, I remember now…my sweet innocent brother…" She approached him, smiling evilly. "Did you ever wonder why you were so compatible with fire spells? Surprise, surprise."
The handsome blond felt sick to his stomach. "I'm your brother…?!"
"Oh, yes Almasy, true siblings we are, in past and present. Through your veins, at this very moment, pumps the rich, royal blood of the greatest Osirian family ever known in the history of man…" her eyes gleamed with memories of the past, but darkened abruptly. "Then you fell for a low class, scummy Dratilian bitch princess like Katarina and everything was ruined! All hope for Osiria's domination of the planet was lost! How history repeats itself…but then, someone showed me something much more…appealing.
"She was a sorceress, disguised as my father's vizier. She's the one who helped me control every move he made. She claimed she came from the farthest future I could imagine and beyond. She showed me glimpses of what the future could be like if I suceeded. She showed me how I could stand by her side as she—as we—controlled time and space itself. She called it time compression, when the past, present and future were all combined in one single world. And all she needed was pendant to make herself and I immortal, to take over this world first. There was no need to destroy the cities yet. No one could stand against us.
So I killed Darion, and brought his head to Katarina. As I knew she would, she drew her broadsword and challenged me to battle to avenge him right then and there. We fought. Remember, Kyonae? Can you still hear them? The drums pounding at your ears and your heart racing in your chest? Can you still look back on your far past?"
"Yes."
"And what a grueling battle it was. I had had no idea she'd been practicing the art of combat. I thought I had the advantage. But you surprised me, you did. Then I saw the pendant on your neck. I tried to grab for it. Even I think it was a foolish decision. As I grabbed it, as I felt it in my fingers, you killed me. Stabbed me clean through. My life in that time was over.
"Then I was born again. Into a little girl's body, named Sanya. To a loving, kind mother named Maika who lived in Osiria. The girl was already at least five, with a will and a soul of her own. So my spirit was set aside in her impressionable little mind. I was an only child; for Maika had given up her first born son to the orphanage in Centra…"
Seifer felt ready to vomit with each word. Knowing this, Sanya went on. " There was a nursemaid there, too…Sa-Shenu. Sanya…the little Sanya…called her 'Birdie'. They loved each other. But one day Sa-Shenu looked into the girl's eye's and saw me, and recognized me as I did her. It was the very same nurse that took care of the Dratilian family's younger children in my other life! Sa-Shenu told the little girl of this but did not tell Maika. She conjured up a potion, a poison really, that was supposed to kill me but do no harm to the girl. Well, it got rid of me for sure, but it proved to be too strong. The girl died days later. Maika, driven mad by the loss of another child, relented to the powers of sorcery. She never found out about the poison.
My invisible spirit drifted upon the wind, eagerly searching for my mistress, the only one who could make me whole again. When I saw…you, Kyonae. On the dirt roads, spattered with mud and the like. You were running from something, would you mind telling us what?"
"…Orphan collectors," she muttered somberly. "Someone had become suspicious of my sorceress powers in my last orphanage, and the collectors came to take me to another one…but I didn't want to…not again…"
"So, she being the nearest human being I could find, I possessed her. Oh, she never knew. I was quiet, stayed in the back of her mind. The collectors finally caught her and brought her to Edea's, where she met Seifer, my former host's brother. She took quite a liking to you, brother. Her first real friend...ever."
Kyonae hung her head guiltily, as if she could feel Seifer's eyes upon her.
"But she didn't stay long, not even long enough to meet her brother Squall, seperated from their first breath because she was born a sorceress. Maika came again, clad in black and so much different from before. She saw me right away in Kyonae and mistook me for her little girl. I often tend to take the physical and spiritual appearance of my hosts, which explains why I am a mirror image of our little friend. Now a sorceress, she could see things she couldn't see before…even me.
"She took Kyonae home at first glance, already planning what to do with the little one, trying to gain her trust over those six long years. I met Sa-Shenu again, and she saw me again," Sanya said this with an annoyed tone. "But this time, she didn't try to stop me. She was too scared of killing another girl. And besides, what could I do? I was helpless without my mistress' power to guide me.
Maika tried to perform the ritual to unleash me, but oh, Kyonae was so much smarter than I had credited her for. She had known right away. She begged Sa-Shenu for her help. The nurse helped her escape, and because of it…Maika killed her. Virtually tore the poor 'birdie' limb from limb and left her in the woods. Maika wasn't smart enough to notice the true me, but she did have a quick temper. But Kyonae decided to be a heroic. She took Sa-Shenu's mangled body to an Osirian temple that laid forgotten in the forests near Trabia. She was going to bring her back to life. So what? Big deal I thought.
But as she chanted the cryptic spells, bending over the resurrection table, I saw something gleam on her neck…the Silver Falcon! It interfered with the spell, and there was a huge flash of light.
" I was temporarily seperated from her body, floating in the brightness, when I saw who else but Katarina in her shade form, staring at me. 'Do not hurt this child, or I will bring you down again,' she threatened. When the light faded, I was back inside my prison in Kyonaes mind and Katarina was gone. On the table laid the still white form of a young falcon. She'd changed Sa-Shenu into a Guardian Force! Kyonae had heard Katarina's voice during the explosion of light, and when Sa-Shenu told her everything she changed her name from Kyonae Leonhart to Kyonae Falcona.
"They traveled about the Trabia Mountains for three years, training. Kyonae even got herself a gunblade. It was if she somehow knew that she would have to face the enemy of her ancestor one day. When she was fifteen, she joined the Trabia Garden in a quest to be a SeeD. She was the best in her field. Pride of Trabia's gunbladers, prodigy of battle strategies, bravest of heart, loyal to every friend she had. Tuh…hard to believe that now," she added, looking down on Kyonae's pitful figure. "Then there was the incident. Oh, I remember all too well. Everything was completely wrecked. Mass destruction…death everywhere…emotions running high…I loved it. But Kyonae didn't. As soon as she was able they sent her to the mental clinic. The incident had jarred her so badly that sometimes she couldn't even remember her own name. She was beginning to get better…until my mistress found me.
Kyonae was weak, so my Mistress had no trouble finding me. She still wanted me to rule alongside her. She told me, though, to stay put—it was not safe yet. She entered Kyonae's mind to hide while she switched from sorceress to sorceress. Then, when she was defeated by SeeD-" she spat out the word as if it were a vulgar profanity. "She did not die. She could not die. She was as close as you could get to being immortal without actually being it. And she had me to help her."
"And through this entire thing, you've been waiting for Maika to ressurect you, so you could ressurect your…mistress," Quistis reviewed, not daring enough to say the sorceress' name.
"Right you are, my dear instructor. And tonight is the night that all shall bow to the mighty Sorceress."
"But where is she?" Seifer asked, nervous of the evil witch that had controlled him.
Sanya looked at Seifer, glad that someone had asked the question. Her neon yellow eyes glimmered in the lightning. "Why, that's what I've been trying to tell you the entire time…"
"No, please don't…" Kyonae pleaded dully.
"Why, it's what her secret's all about…"
"No!!!"
Sanya grabbed Kyonae by her hair and forced her upward, and the ice sorceress cried out softly in pain. She placed a long, black nailed fingertip onto Kyonae's temple, smiling with such evil and coldness that had never been seen before.
"Sorceress Ultimecia awaits her ressurection…inside the mind of Kyonae Falcona."
A/N: Sorry about the chant I made up in 'Dratilian' language. It's mostly mumbo jumbo mixed with badly written Latin with some equally badly written Greek. P.S. I've decided to just forget the stupid contest because only Kayna had the gall to tell me what she wanted. The reason I wanted to kill someone off is because it relates to something later in the story. R/R, pleaz! Thanx! J
